Imagine growing up in an environment where you were neglected, abused or ignored. Unfortunately this is the experience of far too many people (including, I’m sure, some readers of this blog). As the videos I recently posted show, “serve and return” interactions are important in childhood brain development and trauma (or “toxic stress”) have a major impact on brain development.

Today’s video of the still face experiment demonstrates that babies are closely attuned to their social context and it helped me understand the importance of creating stimulating, loving, secure environments. What is it like for children who have to grow up in neglectful or abusive environment? What would it be like to be continually surrounded by fear, violence, drugs or neglect?

I had a friend (who died when he was in his early 30s) who spent the first couple of years of life mostly in an orphanage cot with little human contact. I often wonder what impact this had on his life.

The long-term impact of childhood abuse and neglect is so great that we need to keep searching for better ways of supporting families who struggle to provide a positive, healthy environment for their children.

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Welcome to Sustaining Community

Families, community engagement and environmental sustainability – for parents, students, practitioners and anyone who wants to make a difference. By Graeme Stuart from the Family Action Centre at the University of Newcastle. The views are my own.